Current Opportunities

(Updated April 2019) The Temporal Ecology Lab is currently advertising two postdoctoral positions

Postdoctoral Fellow in Winegrape Modeling

The lab is looking for a bright, motivated and collaborative researcher to join the lab and develop new winegrape models using Stan (mc-stan.org). The project combines decades of historical records with modern Bayesian modeling to address the challenge of shifting climate regimes on the wine industry, with implications for crops across the globe. The fellow will join an interdisciplinary team of researchers based across Canada, the United States and Europe.

The position would be based at the University of British Columbia in the Forest and Conservation Sciences Department. Applicants must be willing to travel to the Okanagan winegrowing region (in southern British Columbia) and France for field work and to meet with collaborators. Travel costs are covered by the lab (in advance of travel as needed).

The ideal researcher will be both able to lead current projects, develop their own projects, and support ongoing work in the lab. Current lab research covers a broad range of topics—climate change impacts via phenology on forests and winegrapes, community assembly via the temporal niche—using a variety of methods from field empirical data, to meta-analyses and analytical coexistence models.

A successful applicant would have/be:

- Either a Ph.D. in agriculture, ecology or related fields with a strong interest in statistical modeling or a Ph.D. in computer science, statistics, physical sciences or related fields with a strong interest in agriculture and/or ecology.

- Strong quantitative and computational skills.

- Experienced with R or Python (or similar skills), ideally with proficiency in LaTeX, git and Stan (applicants without experience in these languages must be excited to learn them quickly).

- Comfortable working with diverse file structures and large datasets (e.g., climate data in formats such as NetCDF).

- Excellent writing skills and good publication record.

- Experience relevant to mentoring undergraduate and graduate students

- Excellent record of being a good lab and community member.

To apply email the following in PDF format (preferably one file) to E. M. Wolkovich at e.wolkovich@ubc.ca (informal inquiries welcome):

- Curriculum vitae

- Brief Description of research interests (maximum of two pages)

- Two examples of published papers (one in prep acceptable).

- Names and contact information of 3 references.

Application review will begin 15 May and will continue until the position is filled.

Postdoctoral Fellow in Climate Change & Phenology Research

The lab is looking for a bright, motivated and collaborative researcher to join the lab and study the impacts of climate change on phenology, with special focus on winegrapes. The researcher will lead field-based projects in the Okanagan winegrowing region (in southern British Columbia) to understand phenological responses to warming across different varieties (e.g., Chardonnay versus Cabernet-Sauvignon).

A successful fellow will leverage collaborative and other resources in the lab—joining a research team that draws on expertise from community ecology, climatology, plant modeling and viticulture—to support current research in the lab and also develop their own projects. Current lab research covers a broad range of topics, including on climate change impacts via phenology on forests and winegrapes, and community assembly via the temporal niche. The lab uses a variety of methods from field empirical data, to meta-analyses and analytical coexistence models.

The position would be based at the University of British Columbia in the Forest and Conservation Sciences Department, with extensive work in the Okanagan winegrowing region, where field sites and collaborators are based (travel costs are covered by the lab, in advance of travel as needed). This is a one-year position, with possible extension, given funding.

A successful applicant would have/be:

- A Ph.D. in agriculture, ecology or related field

- Experience in field work and field data collection (experience collecting phenological data and/or in working with winegrapes or winegrowers a plus).

- Experienced with R or Python (or similar), ideally proficient in LaTeX and git (applicants without experience in these languages must be excited to learn them quickly).

- Excellent writing skills and good publication record.

- Experience relevant to mentoring undergraduate and graduate students